Friday, January 25, 2008

Expectant mother Lorraine Allard learned the devastating news that she was in the advanced stages of liver cancer when she was four months pregnant, according to the Daily Mail.

Allard, of St. Olaves in the U.K., had a choice: Delay treatment to save her baby, or terminate the pregnancy to save herself.

She chose the former, waiting until the fetus was viable before scheduling a Caesarean section.

"If I am going to die, my baby is going to live," Allard told her husband, Martyn, according to the Mail.

The baby came a week early and Allard, 33, gave birth on Nov. 18 to a healthy but premature boy she named Liam.

Exactly two months later, Allard died. She'd begun chemotherapy just after her son's birth. But in the end, it was too late.

Doctors believe Allard had bowel cancer that had gone undetected for years, eventually spreading to her liver. She realized something was wrong after she began suffering from stomach cramps, and tests revealed that her liver was covered with malignant tumors, the Mail reported.

"The doctors said they couldn't do anything because she was pregnant," Martyn Allard, 34, told the Mail. "She told them straight away they were not going to get rid of it. She'd have lost the will to fight."

The courageous and selfless mother was able to get out of bed and hold her tiny son several times beside his incubator before her death. Liam is the Allards' fourth child and first boy; his sisters are Leah, 10; Amy, 8; and Courtney, 20 months.

"Lorraine was positive all the way through," Martyn Allard told the paper. "She had strength for both of us. I can't begin to describe how brave she was. Towards the end we knew things weren't going well, but she was overjoyed that she had given life to Liam."

For a little Friday humor, here are 10 things you never want to hear your kids say when they are not in visual range.

1. "Eww, I dare you to eat it..."2. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Please don't tell mom"3. "Hey, I did a good job on your makeover with mom's scissors"4. "I tried it and it didn't even hurt!"5. "Mom won't even know it's gone"6. "Look, (insert pet's name here)is in the circus!"7. "Your head can totally fit in there"8. "Let's make a bubble gum sculpture"9. "Dad lets us do it"10. "Hurry, flush it before mom comes!"

Some of these I've actually heard, some I said when I was little, and some are my worst fears. Enjoy.

Monday, January 21, 2008

So, after a few days of laziness, I'll go ahead and update you guys on how my class went.

I went ahead and bought my book (even if technically the finances weren't there at the time). I ran upstairs to find my class (second guessing myself about the room number and having not written it down, I felt like a tool) and had to call Baxter to confirm my class number. After reassurance from him the I was, indeed in the right place, I went in. At each table, there were two chairs, most of them already occupied, there was one open table, in the far, corner. So, yes, instead of sitting beside someone I didn't know, I found the desolate seat and took it. (Picture ghost town, tumbleweeds and all).My instructor probably thinks I'm some loner who doesn't like to be around people (great for a speech class). So, anyway...

I found that the class is going to be interesting, challenging (that's a good thing), and my instructor has a great philosophy, (one that I share)you have to be relaxed to give speeches properly. She also strongly encourages class participation during discussion, so I was disappointed when the only time I interjected a thought, she shot me down. It didn't even have to do with speech. It was a discussion about how a communicator should set the mood for proper decoding of the message. She asked if anyone had a boss or someone who barked orders at them. After a few other responses I timidly raised my hand and suggested that since I have children, I get barked at all the time. I was suggesting that sometimes I hear "mommy give me", "Mommy, I want", "Mommy, I need". She looked shocked and said "Aren't you the parent?" "Shouldn't you be the one giving all the orders?" "Well, yes", I replied but should I really have to explain to her that 3, and 1 year olds don't have the best sense of self-awareness? I didn't have a response for her, so she turned her attention to yet another story about herself and how she ruled her home with an iron fist. I just basically sat deflated for the rest of the class, wondering, do I even bother trying to impress the person who seems really intelligent, and thought provoking, or should I just attack this course with a "do your work and get out" mentality. I definitely will think and rethink all of my in-class responses.

Did she make me question my parenting skills? not a bit. (for those of you asking yourselves that particular question) I know what realistic and unrealistic expectations are for a toddler/preschooler. Kayleigh doesn't really bark at me. (Unless she's pretending to be a dog.)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

So, I start my first official on campus class tonight. Introduction to Speech. I have to say, I am slightly nervous. I've always been one to shy away from trying new things, so, this is a big step for me. I'm not too worried about the class itself, but the new change in my schedule, how the girls will react to me being gone one more night a week, and how I will interact with all the whippersnappers in my class.

So, if you have a minute from 7-10 p.m. tonight think about me, and maybe send up a shout out for me.

Monday, January 14, 2008

This is sure to be a birthday remembered for many years, maybe not for all the right reasons, but memorable nonetheless. Here's the rundown.

I was under the impression that on Thursday night, my friend Monica was going to babysit our kids while Baxter and I were going to have dinner out. So, around 5:00 I start getting all showered and dressed, and get ready for a night out, (I'm supposed to be ready by 6:30) and when the time rolls around for us to go, my mom and dad show up. With them, they have a giant cake and a big container of ice cream. I had known something fishy was going on, so this cinched the deal. After they arrive, Baxter informs me that no, we are not going out to dinner, but a surprise party for me. He has never in the history of our marriage surprised me. Somehow, I always find out. Anyway, Monica does show up, along with about 8 to 10 more of our friends . I stood there awkwardly as my friends stood around my third birthday cake of the week singing happy birthday ( is it just me, or is it totally uncomfortable to be in the middle of that particular circle as an adult?) I knew I would remember this birthday for a while.

But wait, that's not all, after all but one of our friends had left, Baxter slumped on the couch. He had a fever and other things* going on with him. He had worked so hard to keep this a surprise, and now it was over, and he allowed himself to finally be sick. He was so sick in fact, that he stayed home from work the next day. Yes, Typhoid Mary got to him. (see previous post). So, he fell asleep on the couch with his fever, and I made myself some canned soup (I needed actual dinner since we didn't go out). The unfortunate end to a wonderfully thoughtful evening.

My sister and her husband arrived on Friday evening and we had a really good low-key weekend. We got to have some good talks (wink, wink, Kitty), and just enjoy being stupid together again. It all wrapped up with my mommy's birthday on Saturday and some steak dinners (those steaks had to be 4 lbs. a piece). Good Times, good eatin'.

So, all in all, I guess I can move on from my birthday week a year older, and with a new appreciation for my hubby, (who really gets annoyed when I call him hubbs) and a memory to last me until my next Birthday week.

*other things-denotes running to and from the bathroom with excited utterances.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Okay, to catch everyone up on my fabulous birthday week, I would like to state that yesterday was the official day, I turned 28. I'm really thinking of hanging out at 28 for a few years. I like it.

Yesterday, the day was supposed to go like this; I wake up, the girls shower me with kisses, and Kayleigh goes off to school, and I take the other two wonderfully behaved children off to preschool so that I can have the day all to myself. I was supposed to meet one of my best friends for a "Birthday Breakfast", then, I had thought about going tanning. (no, i don't usually tan, but I thought maybe I would start because this pasty white skin of mine could use a pick me up, and it also usually makes you look ten lbs lighter, and with the holidays... but I digress..). Then I would spend the rest of my afternoon wrapped in a cocoon of silence where I would read my ridiculously shallow book and then go pick up the kids at the appropriate time. But, no, apparently it was not meant to be.

Tuesday night Ella presented a fever to us, along with a grand delivery of yes, you got it, vomit. I knew in my heart of hearts that my dream birthday was not to be. So on Wednesday, when Ella woke up, I wasn't really that surprised when she still had a fever, and then I shouldn't have been surprised when she threw her milk up all over me. But I did manage to get the other children off to school. Ella then came home with me and slept for 4 hours straight. We did go to church last night (thanks mom and dad for watching Typhoid Marie as my dad likes to call any of our kids that get sick, because they always get the sickness two to three days later, ha) and Baxter had surprised me with a giant cake at Dinner at the Church. It was very thoughtful, and I appreciate the effort. I got a second cake at the youth service, it was very sweet, although it did read "Happy Bithday", I'm very thankful for all of the thoughtfulness. :)

So, I would kind of like a do-over for my actual birthday, it didn't go exactly how I planned, so my m.o. is usually to pout. However, it is my birthday week, and it's not over. I have the suspicion that something is afoot. We shall see what the rest of the week brings. If you made it this far without banging your head on the wall because my post today seems to be a bit long and tedious, thank you, owe you.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

If you're like me, free things don't often come to you. So, imagine my surprise this week (week of all weeks), that our pastor would call us and offer us tickets to see the Dallas Stars. Now, I'm not a hockey fan, I don't know anything about the game except it tends to be on the physically violent side, but I'm all up for a night out on the town with my hubbs. They even fixed the girls dinner, and their beautiful daughter anna and her boyfriend (soon to be fiance, we're thinking) Mason (a.k.a. Taylor's prince)babysat for us into the late night hours.(11:00p.m.)

It was great. I actually enjoyed the game,(although at one point I'm pretty sure there was vomit nearby, ugh)and I kind of like the fact that people were cheering on the fights... I got to have a conversation that didn't concern diapers, or anything else related to motherhood, and when I came home, all I had to do was go to bed. That all adds up to a great start to my birthday week.

Well, growing up, my sister and I were never content to let our birthday be celebrated for just one day, so we would usually try to drag it out for much, much, longer. Our parents usually only allowed us to get by with it for one week or so. So it became a birthday week. And any complaint to the contrary was informed "but, it's my week".... (a slogan that apparently stands the test of time.) It got us out of all kinds of stuff, the dishes, the laundry, and it would guilt the other sibling into doing things they would not be kind enough to do normally on their own, (i.e. make snacks for each other, allow special clothes to be borrowed without pulling hair, not be as obnoxious to one another, you know, those sort of things...)so here it is, I'm turning (gasp 28) and heaven help me, I still really want it to be my week... so I'd like to just make this proclamation official. It's my week.

I'll be updating the progress of the celebration from time to time to keep all of you thrill seekers satisfied.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

I recently had dinner with some awesome friends and each of them personally complimented me on my blog, but neither of them have commented, (and they promised they would). I would just like to take this opportunity to call them out. Mandy, Gabi, where are you? Anyway, I miss you guys and hope to read from you soon. :) I love you guys.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Here's a little 2007 Survey I found on another blog that I read (I won't link to it, because I haven't gotten permission). I figured it'd be much easier than trying to sum up our whole year.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?became the wife of a youth minister.

took an online class (made a b...)

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?I don't make resolutions because they seem to doom you to failure. I just can't do it. But i would like to lose a little of this holiday weight.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Well, let's see, my friend Becky had Cole, my friend Mandy had Annalise, and I have a friend that is preggo right now.

4. Did anyone close to you die?thankfully no.

5. What countries did you visit?none...

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?financial stability.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?2007 is definitely a blur for me for some reason. It was a hard year, and I'm kind of glad it's over...

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?going back to school and actually sticking with it.

9. What was your biggest failure?handling stress.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?not really.

11. What was the best thing you bought?i guess school, because other than that, we didn't buy a heck of a lot.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?at times my own, again with the stress...

14. Where did most of your money go?debt..ugh

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?spending qt with hubby and friends

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?eh, i don't know

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder?much, much happier

b) thinner or fatter?thinner, but not for long if i don't get this holiday junk out of my house!

c) richer or poorer?richer, yay. (but not by much)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?exercised

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?complaining

20. How did you spend Christmas?as far as I'm concerned it's still not over, because my sister and bro in law have not been able to come just yet. I'm holdin' on to Christmas for them.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?i learned how to love better.

22. What was your favorite TV program?I don't get to watch it much but the office is hilarity.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?hate is such a strong word, but dislike is more appropriate.

24. What was the best book you read?None really struck out at me, but I did read a lot.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?I wish I had one.

26. What did you want and get?More time with the hubby.

27. What did you want and not get?more financial stability.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?I enjoyed the nanny diaries.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?I turned 27, and I think I got taken out to dinner? Well, it's almost been a year people, my birthday is on the 9th of Jan...(see how I snuck that in there?)

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?Mo' money.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?get back into some old favorite clothes, because I can!

32. What kept you sane?Mother's day out!

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?...

34. What political issue stirred you the most?abortion as always.

35. Who did you miss?mostly my lil sis.

36. Who was the best new person you met?Mmmmmmonica!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.Relax and let God do all the worrying.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

There's a light at the end of this tunnel, a light at the end of this tunnel for you.